Originally Posted by Colorado Politics
This week, Democratic leaders pretty much said don’t hold your breath for meaningful changes this year to curb lawsuits and spur housing development. Mind you, these are the same leaders who essentially promised voters that they would take action.
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[House Maj. Leader Duran] was referencing Senate Bill 45, which she is sponsoring with Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Canon City. The bill aims at equitably dividing litigation defense costs in an effort to reduce burdens for developers and inspire them to build more condos and townhouses.
While a bipartisan bill, and a noble effort on the part of legislative leaders to move the needle, it is opposed by the very groups it is intended to help, including homebuilders, business leaders and local elected officials. That coalition is known as the Homeownership Opportunity Alliance.
Fast forward to Wednesday, when Duran and Rep. Alec Garnett, D-Denver, the assistant Democratic leader, called a meeting with reporters. Gathered around a table in the speaker’s office, they started out with fightin’ words.
At issue is House Bill 1279, a bipartisan bill that would require a majority of homeowners in an association to approve a construction defect lawsuit and also require disclosure to homeowners of a proposed suit. Garnett is a co-sponsor.
The bill was supposed to be heard in committee on Wednesday, but it was delayed after the Homeownership Opportunity Alliance’s policy committee on Tuesday night voted to oppose the effort.
For Garnett, who has been working on the construction defect bill for three months, news that the coalition would oppose what was supposed to be a compromise came as a shock.
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Just as stakeholders were making progress, a few words in House Bill 1279 appear to have led to an impasse. Here are the words: “Any applicable statutes of limitation and repose are tolled during the one-hundred-twenty-day voting and disclosure period.”
That language addresses a pause in the time homeowners have to file a lawsuit under a statute of limitations. The clock would pause during a 120-day voting and disclosure period as a homeowners’ association decides whether to file a lawsuit.
Developers don’t like that, despite many in the coalition acknowledging that it’s a relatively minor issue compared to the larger picture. In the end, this one somewhat small hangup could send months of negotiations up in smoke.
It cuts deeper than that. In the coalition’s eyes, Duran has been unwilling to work with them. They felt blindsided by Senate Bill 45 being introduced on opening day, and they did not appreciate a measure that they supported, Senate Bill 156, being somewhat dismissed by Duran. That bill would require arbitration or mediation before filing suit.
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